Blacks advancing in military but miss out on top ranks

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, July 24, 2008

Maj. James A. Ellison, left, returns a salute as he inspects Army Air Corps cadets at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Ala., in 1942. President Truman desegregated the military in 1948.

Maj. James A. Ellison, left, returns a salute as he inspects Army Air Corps cadets at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Ala., in 1942. President Truman desegregated the military in 1948.

Photo: Anonymous, U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS FILE

Blacks advancing in military but miss out on top ranks

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WASHINGTON — Blacks have made great strides in the military since it was integrated 60 years ago, but they still struggle to gain a foothold in the higher ranks, where less than 6 percent of U.S. general officers are African-American.

At a ceremony commemorating the day President Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces, military officials and black leaders said the U.S. must not rest on its laurels.

"My hope and expectation is that, in the years ahead, more African-Americans will staff the armed forces at the highest levels," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a crowd that included many black former service members. "We must make sure the American military continues to be a great engine of progress and equality."

While blacks make up about 17 percent of the total force, they are just 9 percent of all officers, according to data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press.

The rarity of blacks in the top ranks is apparent in one startling statistic: Only one of the 38 four-star generals or admirals serving as of May was black. And just 10 black men have ever gained four-star rank — five in the Army, four in the Air Force and one in the Navy, according to the Pentagon.

Still, officials this week can point to some historic gains by blacks in the services as the Pentagon commemorates Truman's signing of an executive order on July 26, 1948, mandating the end of segregation in the military.

Best known among the four-stars is retired Gen. Colin Powell, who later became the country's first black secretary of state, under President Bush.

In a stirring salute in the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday, Powell said that as a youngster in 1948, it never occurred to him that he could rise to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But when he joined the military 10 years later, "they no longer cared whether I was black or white, immigrant kid or not," Powell told the crowd, dotted with the red blazers of Tuskegee Airmen — the first group of black fighter pilots allowed into the Army Air Corps that flew in World War II. "The only thing my commanders ever told me from 1958 for the rest of my career, is 'Can you perform?' And that's all we have ever asked for."

Army leads the way

The Army has led the way with black officers, with nearly double the percentage over the past three decades as the other services. Blacks represented 11 percent to 12 percent of all Army officers during that time, compared with 4 percent to 8 percent in the Navy, Air Force and Marines.

The reasons for the lack of blacks in the higher ranks are many and complex, ranging from simple career choices to Congress and family recommendations. Most often mentioned is that black recruits are showing less interest in pursuing combat jobs, which are more likely to propel them through the officer ranks.

"Kids I've spoken to, who choose to do supply, who choose to do lawyer, who choose to do admin, have the impression that, 'If I go to Army and become an infantry person, that is not a skill that I can carry to the civilian work force,'" said Clarence Johnson, director of the Pentagon's Office of Diversity Management.

In 1998, nearly a quarter of all active duty black officers were in various combat fields. As of this month, that had fallen to 20 percent, compared with nearly 40 percent for nonblacks, according to Pentagon data.

"It's all about how many people you put in the front end of the pipe," Austin said in an interview from Baghdad. "It's very difficult for anybody to get to be a colonel or general in any branch of the service if you don't have enough young officers coming in."

Austin took the combat path to his three-star rank, starting as an infantryman and tactical officer.

The forces he sees now, he said, are far more diverse than when he graduated from West Point in 1975. Then, he said, blacks made up only about 2.5 percent of the Army's general officer corps.

"We treasure diversity because it brings in a lot of different viewpoints and blends in a lot of cultures," he said. "It makes us better."

To achieve that diversity, he said, the military must encourage more blacks to join, highlight the successes of those who have done well and "talk about the opportunities that are offered and how those opportunities can help them in their quest to be successful people."

Equal opportunities

Defense officials say the Pentagon is now colorblind, offering the same opportunities, promotions and jobs to all races.

Compared with the corporate world, the military appears to provide a bit more high-level opportunities. As of late 2007, just five of the Fortune 500 companies were headed by black chief executives — or just 1 percent.

While the percentage of black recruits has grown during the past 60 years, it peaked at almost 26 percent in 1979. That year, they represented nearly four in 10 of all Army recruits and almost three in 10 for the Marines, both all-time highs for the services that see the most battlefield combat.

The Air Force and Navy, meanwhile, peaked in later years, with blacks accounting for roughly 20 percent of enlistees.